Italy warns survival of EU is at stake over migration crisis as fresh showdown looms in the Mediterranean

Italy warns survival of EU is at stake over migration crisis as fresh showdown looms in the Mediterranean

Almost half of Germans want Angela Merkel to resign as their countryâs leader, a new poll has shown, as the German chancellor comes under renewed pressure over her handling of the immigration issue.

A YouGov survey showed that 43 per cent of Germans now want her to leave office, compared with 42 per cent who want her to remain - 15 per cent did not express an opinion.

Even in her own CDU-CSU coalition, 27 per cent want to see her quit.

The survey demonstrates Mrs Merkelâs increasingly perilous position as she fights an internal battle with her coalition partner, the Bavarian CSU, over imposing border controls that Mrs Merkel believes risk undermining the Schengen free movement zone.

Mrs Merkel will attend an emergency summit in Brussels on Sunday in a bid to try and create a âEuropean solutionâ to the migration cris is which has exposed deep divisions in the bloc over how to hand African and Middle Eastern migration.